Contributed by: coldjulycoldjuly(others by this writer | submit your own)Published on August 22nd 2001This is a landmark album for Bad Religion. If you heard this when It first came out like I did, chances are you were really suprised.
The sound of this album changed slightly. Which took some getting used to, Not quite as fast paced as all their previous albums....and they also incorporated so.

This is a landmark album for Bad Religion. If you heard this when It first came out like I did, chances are you were really suprised.

The sound of this album changed slightly. Which took some getting used to, Not quite as fast paced as all their previous albums....and they also incorporated some sounds you never heard from these guys before.

The record starts off with the title track "Recipe for Hate" which is a totally awesome and still one of my favorites on the album. Then it goes on to "Kerosene" which keeps the speed going for them...The 3rd song "American Jesus" struck them with temporary success and remains the most well known song on the record.

One of the most misunderstood songs on the album is "Man on a Mission" which is more less a fast country song, And this sounds strange but I really like it. you can sense other changes on the record too; for example this is the 2nd recording with their new drummer Bobby Schayer. And he sounds completely different than Pete Finestone which still caught a lot of fans off guard.

Another big ruckus raised by fans about this album was song #7 "Watch it Die" which has Eddie Vedder, on guest vocals. You might remember Eddie from his work in a little band called Pearl Jam.

From what I have heard from other people - my opinion is backward on this one - most people I talk to, think This album sucks and is their worst. While I love most of the songs and think this is one of their best.

This is also the record the band was labeled the hated term, "sellout" because of their jump to Atlantic records mostly. Why bad religion moved...I still do not know. But, they sure didn't do it for fame. We all know they could have been super rockstars if they wanted, but I guess the band has always been happy where they have been for the last 20 years.

Well, I'm sure the comments on this will be kinda divided with some hating it, and some loving it. But its one of my favorite albums by a band who will never die. They have been around as long as I have and they dont show signs of slowing down yet.

Damn, my #1 favorite record, that is until BR released "The Empire Strikes First" now its got some close competeition but i still think it beats it out by just an inch or two...RFH is just such a great record, the hits on it such as the cult classic for BR fans "American Jesus", and the two of my favorite on this album "Don't Pray On Me" and "All Good Soldiers" are unheard of musically, and the lyrics just as in every BR record is insane and meaningful...BUY THIS ALBUM IF YOU DON'T OWN IT ALREADY!!!

Anonymous (June 18, 2004)

I think this is the best overall bad religion album
really good

Anonymous (December 8, 2003)

does anyone else think the song "skyscraper" is errily describing the fall of the world trde centers? ("tower for the world")

kikass album though, gawd i love br

Anonymous (October 14, 2002)

i love this album. everything about it. the cover art scares me but i think its cool. suffer has the best cover art though, i think. "suburban punks" are definitely able to realte. but about the music: yea it fuckin rocks. the first 3 songs are just so damn good. the title track is one of my fav bad religion songs ever. ah, so gooooood! i think this cd is where they adopted the style they have today, it's a pretty big change of pace from the ones before it. well suffer and against the grain, at least. all my opinions though. feel free to agree or disagree.

Bad Religion never could have been rock stars, they don't have the production, the marketing, the lack of values, or any of the other things necessary to be rock stars. While it may be possible to be both intersting musically and be famous and popular, it hasn't really happened in a big fashion since the Beatles.

Into The Unknown and Back to the Known were both only released on 12" vinyl. Consider yourself lucky if you ever find one on the shelves. (Watch out for the German bootlegs of Into The Unknown, they look pretty similar) Those 2 records, and their very first 7", sell for unfathomable amounts on eBay these days.

Back to the known was what they put out right after Into the unknown because most people hated it. If you think about both titles you can see how they coincide with each other...into the unkown was sort of an experimentation (did I spell that right) and back to the known was back to what they knew best...bad ass punk rock..if you find it somewhere...dont matter what format. fuckin get it

So I guess 80-85 is comprised of "How can hell be any worse" and "Back to the known"?

Anonymous (August 31, 2001)

Back to the unknown was the CD after Into the Unknown with the (Somewhat) reunited band. It's like the response album to Into the Unknown, It's a 5 song EP that features "Along the Way" one of BR's best.

Into the Unknown was a mistake, though not the worst music I've heard, the band pretty much ignores it.

"Into the Unknown" was this weird ep that Bad Religion put out in 83'(I think) that fans always want remixed and released but its not worth the time. I have a copy of it and am not impressed at all. Its really odd, not punk at all, more spacey.
I'm curious though as to what Coldjuly is referring to as "Back to the Known", never heard that one.

Anonymous (August 31, 2001)

honestly, i dont think i ever heard this entire album before. my friend has it, but i always seem to look past it when we exchange cd's. bythe way, what is this 'into the unknown' you speak of?oh yes, i like the 'new america' alot. at first it seemed kinda weak, but the more i listened to it, the more it grew on me. the first 6 songs are all awesome. you can read my review, under another name, on this site.- fathead

I agree...The new america was very good. People are bitching because it dosent sound like suffer or no control. A band has to change their sound every now and then. suffer, and NC are 12 and 13 years old now, why the fuck would you expect BR to sound the same. Oh yeah...recipe for hate is when they started to suck....what are you, an epitaph junkie?

Anonymous (August 30, 2001)

This is a true Bad Religion classic. With the exception of man on a mission and kerosene, every song is damn good. I really have to say that don't prey on me, all good soldiers, american jesus, and skyscraper (one of my all time favs by BR) are classics. I just recently turned a good friend of mine, who is a metalhead like myself on to BR with this album, and he loves it. Well I'm posting, I wanted to say something about The New America. What is so wrong with this record? Personally, this is the best BR album to come out without Brett, and it's damn strong. A lot of the songs are awesome, and in fact, gave me my love back for Bad Religion. Don't get me wrong, Suffer and No Control can never be touched, but those albums are long gone, and I wouldn't ask BR to rehash those records every time they make a new record, ya know? Their worst album is easily No Substance, and even then, I still think it's pretty good.

i agree with the guy down there...this is the album when bad religion (tastefuly put) "started to suck"...not neccisarily suck because this was a pretty descent album but no substance, the gray race, and new america wern't any good except for the singles

Anonymous (August 26, 2001)

Uh, Into the Unknown was BR's best, without a doubt.

But really, Greg was probally stoned off chemicals he'd been working on in his laboratory...Damn smart people.

Anyone who says this is the worst BR album has never heard Into the Unknown (which is actually not all that bad, but still...) Recipe has some classic songs on it, and I think it is a bit more mature than their other albums. Not their best record though. As far as them going to Atlantic, I think they did it because Atlantic offered them much better distribution than Epitaph had to offer at the time. They wanted more of their fans to have access to their records. Now, of course, that would not be a problem. Bands now can have the same oppurtunities on an indy as they would have if they were on a major label. I think some of these bands that have defected to major labels recently are in it for the wrong reasons.

Anonymous (August 25, 2001)

This album was just them trying to experiment a bit more so than they usually do. American Jesus and Watch it Die are great, but this isn't on par with the 4 previous releases before this. Suffer, No Control, Against the Grain, Generator..Classics. But this album isn't to bad itself.

Anonymous (August 25, 2001)

Brilliant fucking BR album. There's a big difference between the new sounds heard on this album as opposed to the last two albums -- this one was good!

Just really unique songwriting and a fresh direction for punk rock.

Anonymous (August 25, 2001)

This is the album where both greg and brett tried to do something differently and yet neither one conferred with the other about it, they both independently just sort of decided to toss things up. The best cover art, its a nice break from the pace of past records. This and stranger than fiction made it hard to call them sellouts, Stranger than fiction is still one of my all time faves. Its just good music. 'Struck a nerve' struck one in me, and this one has some of my favorite lyrical parts matched with music, all good soldiers has great and a verydifferent tempo to it, a great album proving they can write good music even when they slow down.

Anonymous (August 25, 2001)

this is the album where bad religion started to suck

Anonymous (August 25, 2001)

technically this album was first released on epitaph...then rerealsed on atlantic
so theyre not so much sellouts,lol
still,its a great album

Yeah this isnt their best album...I gonna have to go with generator....This needed a review because this album is so underated...and yes most I have talked to dislike this record for some reason....I dont know why.

People say this is their worst album? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say this, usually it's divided between The New America or No Substance. Anyway, I really love most of the songs on this album. I don't like Kerosene or Man on a Mission though, I usually skip 'em. It has easily one of my favorite songs on the album, "Struck a Nerve", among many other greats. Not as good as their 1988-1992 works in my opinion, but still a good overall album.

I have to agree that this was a misunderstood album, but definitely among their best (after No Control and Suffer.) Lyrically, I think it was their most difficult and probably most intelligent (not that they were exactly idiots on their other records, to say the least) But songs like "Don't Pray On Me" and "Man on a Mission" really are some of the most effective, balanced attacks on modern Christianity, and especially on it's influence on politics and society.